LANs (local area networks) connecting many personal computers to each other are commonly used in enterprises and other environments. While personal computers have become more sophisticated, they are still technologically advancing rapidly. As a result, personal computers still have to be replaced with newer machines relatively often. An administrator who is responsible for replacing computers with newer machines usually has to ensure that the process will occur smoothly. When a large number of machines are replaced, the operational burden on the administrator can be enormous.
One technology that has been used to transfer setting information of an operating environment for a user between an old information processing apparatus and a new information processing apparatus is described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-44560. Software has been accordingly developed to transfer the setting information of the operating environment for a user between information processing apparatuses, such as that described in “Introduction and User's Guide of System Migration Assistant,” available on the Internet at www-6.ibm.com/jp/pc/migration/sma/. According to these technologies, setting information to be transferred can be selected by the user. As a result, the amount of data that is transferred can be reduced, and unnecessary setting information does not have to be transferred.
Within a LAN connecting information processing apparatuses running versions of the Windows® operating system, a domain controller is typically used in which administers can enter passwords for users in a centralized manner. A domain controller is thus a particular type of information processing apparatus. In a LAN using such a domain controller, setting information particular to a user is distributed to, and stored in, the domain controller as well as in the client information processing apparatus of the user. For example, setting information for a user group to which a user belongs is stored in the domain controller, whereas user-specific setting information for an application program is stored in the client information processing apparatus of the user.
In client information processing apparatuses connected to such a LAN, replacing client information processing apparatuses with new ones without causing inconvenience to users also desirably requires transferring the setting information from the old apparatuses to the new apparatuses in a way that is not overly burdensome on the administrator in charge. According to the prior art technologies described in the previous paragraphs, when such transfer is accomplished, a user may need to log into his or her new information processing apparatus for the setting information transferred from the old apparatus to the new apparatus. The transfer process can thus be burdensome for the administrator, since he or she has to collect passwords from all the users. Collecting passwords is also undesirable due to the security risks involved in aggregating such sensitive information in one place.
Transferring setting information can also be accomplished without collecting passwords of all the users, if the password of the administrator of the entire domain is known. The password of the administrator of the entire domain enables the transfer process to be performed for all information processing apparatuses on the LAN. The administrator password is quite powerful, however, and allows a large number of other types of processes to be performed for all information processing apparatuses on the LAN. Therefore, the administrator password is preferably kept secret, known only to the administrator, and usage of this password is best minimized or avoided. For instance, if just one client information processing apparatus is being replaced, then the password of the user for this apparatus should be used, instead of the password of the administrator of the entire domain. In other words, there are also security risks involved in using the administrator password to transfer setting information when replacing information processing apparatuses.
For these and other reasons, therefore, there is a need for the present invention.